Unite members being balloted over below inflation pay offer while CEO makes millions
Workers at world-leading aerospace supplier GKN Aerospace are set to take strike action over pay as they are balloted following below-inflation pay offers from the company.
GKN is a supplier of airframe and engine structures, electrical wiring and landing gear, with a presence on 90 per cent of today's aircraft. Around 700 workers at the Filton site in Gloucestershire make wings for the Airbus A320.
For years workers at GKN have seen their pay slip behind that of other nearby aerospace firms like Airbus and Rolls Royce that has seen many employees leave in search of better pay.  GKN has offered just a 3.3 per cent increase.
Unite members have exhausted all avenues of negotiation and are now balloting as a last resort. The ballot for industrial action opens today (16 April) and closes on 7 May. If the ballot is positive for industrial action dates could take place across the spring and summer.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham commented: "GKN's parent company CEO got the biggest bonus of any major company, yet it still sees fit to try and short-change our members.
“GKN needs to understand the Unite will not allow such profiteering on the backs of workers. GKN is hugely profitable and can easily afford a proper pay rise for these highly skilled and valuable aerospace workers."
Peter Dilnot  the CEO of Melrose industries (GKN’s parent company) received a bonus for the 2024 financial year of £45.4 million. This was the single biggest bonus in the FTSE 100 list of directors and was part of a £208 million pot that was shared with three other directors. Dilnot’s total compensation was 1,112 times more than the average Melrose/GKN worker’s salary of £53,000.
In April 2025, nearly two-thirds of Melrose shareholders voted against the directors' remuneration report in an advisory vote, labelling the payouts excessive.
Unite regional secretary Matt Allen said: "Our members are furious at their pay being chipped away year after year and outpaced by other nearby companies. They just want a decent pay rise in the face of a cost-of-living crisis.
"Yet GKN claim there is no money all the while paying their directors millions in salary and bonuses. It is a disgrace and unless they come back with an improved offer, our members will be on the picket line."